Molecular Pharmacology, Vol 7, 653-662, Copyright © 1971 by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics

Fluorinated Pyrimidines

XXXIX. Effects of 5-Trifluoromethyl-2'-deoxyuridine on the Replication of Vaccinia Viral Messenger Ribonucleic Acid and Proteins

¹ McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706

The mechanism of the antiviral activity of 5-trifluoromethyl-2'-deoxyuridine (F₃TdR) has been studied in vaccinia virus-infected HeLa cells. When normal virions are used to infect the cells in the presence of the analogue, sucrose gradient sedimentation has shown that the early messenger RNA is normal and associates normally with polyribosomes. However, any late mRNA that may be produced under those conditions has abnormal sedimentation properties and does not associate normally with polyribosomes. When the cells are infected with purified virions containing F₃TdR in their DNA, they adsorb to the cells and are uncoated normally. However, early mRNA is not transcribed normally. Studies of viral protein synthesis with polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate suggest that a major virus-induced protein is not synthesized in the presence of F₃TdR, and that another protein is formed instead.